The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the invention. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Grasping is an important way for robots to interact with objects. Besides grasping objects using fingers like robotic hands, suction cups are also used. In particular, when there is a large enough smooth surface on an object, suction is an effective and efficient way to manipulate an object.
For example, FIG. 1 shows a conventional suction device 100, which includes a rigid tube 110 connected to a suction cup 120 at its end. The kind of design of the conventional suction device 100 is easy to manufacture and is effective when the objective is to lift an object up and move it to another location. However, when the weight of the object is not distributed evenly and/or the object is heavy, it is likely that the suction cup will peel off and results in a failure in picking the object.
In addition, when using the conventional rigid suction device 100, the ways that an object can be manipulated is quite limited. It is best for lifting an object, move it to another location in the same pose and then set it down. It is almost impossible to flip or turn an object upside down using a rigid suction device 100.
Therefore, there is a need to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies in the art.